Brazen Careerist

Today's world of work is not the same as your father's was. Thank God! Penelope Trunk, columnist for the Boston Globe and Yahoo Finance in addition to her own Website has written a spot on, insightful book titled Brazen Careerist. Penelope hopes to provide a roadmap for Gen X and Y'ers to follow in pursuit of their own life's work. Drawing on real world experience, she stories upon such topics as:

Grad School

Adventures

Resumes

Interviews

Managers

Office Politics

Sex Discrimination

Promotions

The New American Dream

Penelope's work has been referred to as the modern day version of What Color is Your Parachute? While the Brazen Careerist is a manifesto and rallying wake-up cry for Gen X and Y'ers, I find that it talks frankly and honestly to a whole other generation of folks. Mine. The Boomers.

As a Boomer manager, I feel as if Brazen Careerist is my own personal undercover spy, infiltrating the Gen X and Y'ers' world. Of course for me, there isn't a trace of spying or undercover that goes into dealing with folks from these generations. It is all about collaboration. And if one wishes to collaborate, they must understand the other collaboratoree. Brazen Careerist introduces us, stays in the conversation and provides that much needed understanding.

For Boomers who do not recognize the workplace change today, there is no help. But for those of us who relish in the new environment and who cherish the spirit and attitude of those who will one day be placing us in nursing homes*, I find the Brazen Careerist positively fascinating!!

*Our Gen Y daughter has for sometime reminded us of her role in this potential eventuality, helping to explain why we should see and support her point of view...or perhaps our nursing home will not have all of the amenities that we would expect. She tried to explain the concept of an outhouse...

In an e-mail to David, this blog's author, I told him that my comment's point (see above) was to determine if Penelope's book was selfish or selfless. I've just returned from the bookstore where I thumbed through the book. She had me at "Managers should focus on people, not tasks." Looking through the book I saw other examples of where she places relationships over tasks. I didn't buy the book, but I'll recommend it to new managers.

Trunk most certainly does not speak for me. Blow off my job whenever the mood hit me, and not even ask my boss what he thought about it? Even if I had jobs falling from the sky around me, and I knew that one that would give me all I wanted would always be there, I wouldn't do something like that. I think that my employer would be entitled to better; if he wasn't, I would have long since gone looking for an employer who was worth my respect. If jobs were as easily had as Penelope thinks they are, I'm sure I'd find one.

Which is the other side of the issue, isn't it? Jobs aren't really that abundant, good, talented people are struggling to find work, and this whole "the boss will just have to suck it up" thing is pure fantasy. Trunk portrays a world of post-woodstock primma donnas, when all most of us want is a little freedom, as in having enough time off of work for a personal life to be a possibility, some fulfillment on the job if possible, and maybe a little respect - and we're not getting any of that. That's reality.

But then, Trunk has already said on the Huffington Blog that she doesn't believe in reality, so why not post a little more fantasy?